After school activities

Kimberley82

How much do you spend pre child?
Would you spend more if you had a child who excelled at something and really loved it?

[Deleted User]

i'm not at that stage yet, but i know my son excels at gymnastic type activities and my daughter at the moment loves dancing and music. To date they do the same activities like swimming or trampolining, but once at school this will change.

I personally dont see a problem in spending different amounts as long as they both get to do a similar amount of stuff, as some clubs etc will inevitiably cost more than others.

Out of interest, what is your take on it?

Kimberley82

Deleted_User wrote: »

i'm not at that stage yet, but i know my son excels at gymnastic type activities and my daughter at the moment loves dancing and music. To date they do the same activities like swimming or trampolining, but once at school this will change.

I personally dont see a problem in spending different amounts as long as they both get to do a similar amount of stuff, as some clubs etc will inevitiably cost more than others.

Out of interest, what is your take on it?

I am starting to feel like I am drowning in activity's lol.

My son does kickboxing on Wednesday (he really loves it and is getting really good)
Cubs on a Monday
Drum lessons on a Saturday (he has just started them, has been asking for years)

My daughter has stageschool on Wednesday ( this is her passion)
Beavers on Tuesday
Dancing on a Saturday.

I kind of feel bad that my daughters cost 4 times what my sons lessons cost.

Counting_Pennies_2

I would say it would be more the number of activities that need to be fair on the children, than the amount spent.

One child might be excelling in one activity that costs more, but the other child will only see that they are getting extra sessions, so make sure they have equal number of activities that they each enjoy.

[Deleted User]

Counting Pennies, that was exactly the point i was trying to make but you posted it far more articulately. Thank you.

kjmtidea

My eldest 3 do Taekwondo which costs £70 a month which is ok but then you have insurance, uniforms, gradings, tournaments, padding. It costs a small fortune so they only have that as an after school activity at the moment, my youngest son will also be joining next year.

My 7 year old seems to excel at all sports he tries, so I would love him to do some other activities too but it just costs so much, not to mention trying to fit everything in. Luckily their school do lunch time ones and after school ones every now and then which are free.

jackomdj

As a child I used to play county level tennis & netball. My Dad was forever running me around, most weekends we would be training or at a tournament. My sister played tennis for a while but gave it up & chose not to take up anything else except Nursing cadets once a week.

It was not until we were aduts that she told me how left out she felt each weekend when my Dad took me off somewhere. I don't think my parents realised.

I will ensure both my children get the chance to have equal time spent on their activities or one to one time with both parents. As previous posters said I don't think it is about the money spent rather than what is being seen to be done with them both - and I mean being seen by the other child not to others outside the family.

Spendless

Since they are both doing what they enjoy, I wouldn't worry about it. It'd be different if you were saying to 1 child you can't do x, cos I can't afford it, due to other child doing xxxxxx.

At various times, both mine have done more expenive/more activites than the other, It has evened itself out over time.

I'm about to go and ask about DS joing scouts in a min. Other than that he isn't currently doing any after school activities, but he goes ice-skating with his mate on 1-2 times per week.

DD goes brownies, church group, swimming lessons and street-dancing.

balletshoes

Kimberley82 wrote: »

How much do you spend pre child?
Would you spend more if you had a child who excelled at something and really loved it?

yes i'd spend more if my child excelled at something she loved - her dance class went up from £2.50 a week to £8.50 a week when she changed dance school last year and got more into different dance types. She loves it and has lots of fun, even when practising for dance exams (as she is now). Show time is a drain on time and money, but thank goodness thats only once every 2 years!

We usually have a couple of free after-school activities provided by the school per year, and my daughter will go (me too if parents are invited) if its something which interests her. And until she can swim competently (because she doesn't really enjoy it, but understands its an important skill to learn) she has swimming lessons once a week.

My sister has 2 kids, I think they now are in the position that they have one evening per week when all the family are in the house - every other night one or both of the kids is doing something! But they believe as you do, that its not the amount of money thats spent on the activity that matters, more that the kids are getting to do the activities they enjoy most, and a similar amount of time is spent by each parent supporting them/transporting them etc

Spendless

But since you ask about the cost of each.

DS - scouts (if he decides he wants to join) £3 per week, plus insurance and any camps etc
Ice-skating £2.50-£5 depending on which session he goes to plus spending money
Violin lessons that he has recently stopped -free via school.

DD -Brownies £1 per week
Church group -free
Line dancing -£2 per week (thru school)
Swimming lessons £45 block of 10 lessons; 1 session per week

LJM

my girls go to a dance class once a week which costs £3 a session each, though my eldest likes it she does it more for fun and excercise,yet my youngest 6 is fantastic and could compete have already been told she is a trophy winner. if it happens that later she does want to compete it will get expensive for a start they are all mainland comps and we live on iow so getting off island is cost in itself without costumes etc.my eldest if there was some activity she found that she really wanted to do we would encourage her all we could equally